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Saddam Weapons Fear
Tuesday, March 12, 2002
By James Hardy
The Daily Record

U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney yesterday claimed Saddam Hussein could sell chemical weapons to the al-Qaeda terror network.

On a visit to Britain during a tour to drum up support for military action, he made it clear Iraq was the next target on the US hit list, despite worldwide opposition.

He said: "We know from our work in Afghanistan, al-Qaeda was aggressively seeking to acquire nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

"We don't know how far they got but they would have used these weapons if they could acquire them.

"We have to be concerned about the potential marriage between terrorists like al-Qaeda and those who would help proliferate knowledge and weapons of mass destruction."

Speaking at Downing Street where he met Prime Minister Tony Blair, Cheney insisted the US was not planning imminent action and said Britain would be free to decide on offering military support.

No 10 officials later admitted the West had no evidence to link the Iraqi dictator to Osama bin Laden.

And a new poll for ITN last night showed public opinion deeply split on sending British troops to fight a camapign in Iraq.

But Blair said: "There is a threat from Saddam Hussein and the weapons of mass destruction that he has acquired. It is not in doubt at all."
(The Daily Record News Source)
2002 © The Daily Record.

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